You, too, can be a guinea pig for pot

Sometimes, it's hard to find people interested in playing the role of guinea pig for the sake of science. And, sometimes, that job is not so hard. Like when what you want the guinea pigs to do is get real high. That's a good example.

Pot-based research isn't all fun and games. Given the interest in medical marijuana for cancer patients and people with AIDS, some of the studies require volunteers to, you know, have cancer or AIDS. Others are interested in the sociology — these scientists want to talk to you about your pot use and collect data about how it may or may not have affected your life.

But the mythical opportunity to "get high for science" really does exist, writes Brian Palmer at Slate.

The National Institutes of Health maintains an online database of clinical trials that are in the recruitment process. As of this writing, there are approximately 100 marijuana studies currently enrolling patients. Each listing contains inclusion criteria (the types of people the researchers are looking for) and exclusion criteria (characteristics that will remove otherwise qualified people from contention).

... there are a few trials that might interest someone looking for a free high. Consider the University of Iowa’s “Effects of Inhaled Cannabis on Driving Performance.” Participants will be dosed with varying amounts of alcohol or vaporized cannabis, then placed into a driving simulator to measure their performance. There are some restrictions. You must be a social drinker and marijuana user already, but you can’t have an addiction. People who are susceptible to motion sickness are out, and you must live near the driving simulator in Iowa. Keep in mind that getting into the study doesn’t guarantee free marijuana—two control groups will get no THC whatsoever. (Previous studies have shown that low doses of marijuana have little to no impact on driving performance.)

Read more at Slate.com

Image: Getting your head above the parapet..., a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike (2.0) image from kevenlaw's photostream

• [sota767]

  “Pot” and “Guinea Pig” just makes me hungry now. Curse you Los Andes restaurant.

• [James P. Scott]

  If you go to the studies site you find out that there are multiple studies to develop “marijuana dependency cures”… guess what BS drug companies will be trying to push next…. “MARIJUANA IS ADDITIVE! WE HAVE THE CURE!”

  • [Cornan]

     But Marijuana IS additive. Every time I have some I need to add some snacks and fruit juice…

• [gt bear]

  I’m a guinea pig; a lab rat. i make a living, not much but enough to get by, doing medical studies. i have never encountered a paid pot study; that is, one that pays enough to cover travel expenses and at least minimum wage for your time. i was in a booze study once. it wasn’t fun.

• [GyroMagician]

  Several years ago some colleagues ran a study investigating how ketamine changes ones response to pain. They had no problems finding volunteers.

• [Tore Sinding Bekkedal]

  Putting aside the questionable morals of forwarding links to scientific studies to with a “free high, guys!” line…

  Who in the hell considers scoring weed for the purposes of driving a car simulator to be a *good time*? That strikes me as bringing booze to a DMV line. You might well be drunk, but you won’t really be partying.